November 16, 2009
The following email was sent to City Council from Jim English, President of the Wards Corner Civic League:
Dear Mayor Fraim and Members of Norfolk City Council:
Included in tomorrows city council meeting agenda is a public hearing regarding changes to the City Charter. Two areas of this charter change are particularly bothersome to the membership of the Wards Corner Civic League. The first is the change in the referendum regarding signatures increasing the number of petitioners from 4 to 8 thousand. We believe this unfairly raises the bar on citizen input and therefore we are opposed to the change. The second is the change removing the recall process from the City Charter to which we are also opposed. At its regular monthly city league meeting held November 16th at 645PM at the Norfolk Wellness Center the Wards Corner Civic League membership unanimously voted to oppose these two city charter changes and respectfully request that you as members of Norfolk City Council vote against these proposed changes.
We thank you in advance for taking our opposition into consideration prior to voting on these changes
Sincerely,
Jim English
President
Wards Corner Civic League
Comments Off on Wards Corner Civic League opposes Council’s Recall and Petition restrictions | 
City Of Norfolk | Tagged: city council, petition, Recall, referendum | 
Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
November 16, 2009
The agenda for Tuesday’s City Council meeting includes proposed changes to the city charter which include the removal of the ability to recall City Council members and an increase to the signatures needed for a petition from 4,000 to 8,000.
Vivian Paige has the scoop:
Of particular concern to me is the change in sections 32 and 35, which increases the minimum number of signatures required for petition from 4,000 to 8,000. This unfairly raises the bar on citizen input. One of the largest petition drives ever undertaken by the citizens was that relating to Bay Oaks Park. That petition garnered 5,376 signatures. More recently, the residents of Highland Park undertook a similar petition, gathering over 5,000 signatures.
The Virginian-Pilot has an article as well:
The ordinance, if approved [by City Council and then] by the General Assembly, would also abolish a provision in the city code that allows voters to recall council members. Instead, the city would follow state recall procedures as most Virginia cities do. Currently, Portsmouth, Hampton and Lynchburg are the only other Virginia localities with recall provisions that allow council members who do not break the law to be recalled.
Both Norfolk’s and the state’s provisions allow residents to challenge a sitting council member by gathering signatures on a petition. However, under the city code, the petition leads to a recall election. If proposed changes are approved, Norfolk citizens could use the petition drive only to ask a Circuit Court judge to remove a council member solely for malfeasance. There would be no recall election.
Comments Off on Norfolk stifling citizens abilities to recall and petition | City Of Norfolk | Tagged: city council, petition, Recall, referendum | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
October 14, 2009
Norfolk Police Department
2nd Precinct Groundbreaking
Join us as we kick off construction for the new
2nd Precinct for the Norfolk Police Department
Monday, October 19, 2009
11:00 am
901 Asbury Ave.
(Next to Oakwood Elementary in the
Central Business Park)
Call 353-7392 for more information
1 Comment | City Of Norfolk, crime, Police | Tagged: 2nd precinct, groundbreaking, Police | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
October 7, 2009
Jim English, President of the Wards Corner Civic League, is extending an invitation to the entire Partnership to attend a Candidate Forum at the Civic League’s October meeting.
The meeting is scheduled for October 19, 2009 at 6:45pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center.
The following candidates have been invited to the forum:
87th District House of Delegates
D Paula J. Miller, Incumbent
R John N. Amiral
89th District House of Delegates:
D Kenneth Cooper Alexander, Incumbent
I Anthony J. “Trip” Triplin
Sheriff – City of Norfolk
D Robert J. McCabe, Incumbent
I Sean C. Jones
Commissioner of the Revenue – City of Norfolk
D Sharon M. McDonald, Incumbent
I Douglas E. Knack
Treasurer – City of Norfolk
D Thomas Moss, Incumbent
Comments Off on Candidate Forum – October 19, 2009 | Candidate Forum, City Of Norfolk | Tagged: Anthony J. Triplin, Douglas E. Knack, John N. Amiral, Kenneth Cooper Alexander, Paula J. Miller, Robert J. McCabe, Sean C. Jones, Sharon M. McDonald, Thomas Moss | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
October 5, 2009
Revonna Bieber of Monticello Village writes in with the following:
According to the NRHA Fall 2009 issue of “Neighborhood Patterns [PDF]” On Wednesday morning, April 15, a blighted 16-unit apartment building at 9430 First View Street was razed. In its place, three single family homes will be built, bringing about a much needed change according to local residents and West Ocean View Civic League members. NRHA purchased the property in July 2008 when 13 of the 16 units were occupied.
The property will be divided into three lots for homes ranging from 1,600 to 1,800 square feet with projected price ranges of $175,000 to $250,000. Construction is expected to be complete for all three units by spring 2010.
So why aren’t these improvements being made in our neighborhoods? Blight is quite apparent, especially in the apartment complexes, in the areas of Denby Park, Monticello Village, and Oakdale Farms. Why can the city buy and raize apartment buildings in Ocean View, Lamberts Point,on Hampton Boulevard, and Broad Creek but not in Wards Corner?
11 Comments | blight, City Of Norfolk, crime | Tagged: blight, crime, NRHA | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
May 17, 2009
The following was in the Sunday, May 17, 2009 edition of the Compass (Virginian-Pilot):
MOST CITY LAND ACQUIRED WAS IN DOWNTOWN
by HARRY MINIUM
City Councilwoman Theresa Whibley represents the city’s affluent west side, including much of downtown, but you can’t say she’s not interested in other parts of the city.
Commenting on the city’s land acquisition revolving fund, from which the city has spent nearly $13 million in recent years acquiring 13 properties, Whibley said:
“It disturbed me that all of the acquisitions are in the downtown area. None of them are in Ocean View or Wards Corner. It’s frustrating that we can’t do more at Wards Corner.”
From the former St. Mary’s Infant Home to the Red Carpet Inn side on Tidewater Drive, 12 of the 13 properties were indeed in or near downtown. Another was a tire store on Hampton Boulevard near Old Dominion University.
Purchases from the revolving fund are paid for by land sales, such as the recently authorized sale of $2.9 million of city land around a Norfolk reservoir in Virginia Beach to the Beach. Once the check from the Beach clears, the fund will have a balance of $4.8 million.
City officials said they have no current plans to buy more land in Wards Corner or anywhere else.
2 Comments | blight, City Of Norfolk, Virginian-Pilot | Tagged: Theresa Whibley | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
September 29, 2008
Pilot Online Reports that The Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority and The City of Norfolk has not decided how they will administer $1,000,000 in grants to Denby Park, Monticello Village and Oakdale Farms homeowners. Also they don’t know when the money will become available.
The grants at a glance
Norfolk’s proposed help for three Wards Corner neighborhoods is tentatively planned to include three types of grants and loan programs:
Home Rehabilitation Grants $400,000 to help eight homeowners
Residential Facade and Improvement $125,000 for five multifamily buildings; $300,000 for 20 homeowners Home Addition Program $100,000 for four homeowners
The Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority will recieve $75,000 of the money for administering the funds. The authority, which can be reached at (757) 623-1111, is working out the details and is not accepting applications for the program at this time.
7 Comments | City Of Norfolk, wards corner | Tagged: City Of Norfolk, NRHA, wards corner | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
August 22, 2008
A sincere and heartfelt “Thank You!” goes out to the Chrysler Corporation, KaBOOM!, the City of Norfolk, and most certainly those citizens who helped construct the park in Denby Park yesterday.
The article in the Virginian-Pilot has photos and a video.
2 Comments | City Of Norfolk | Tagged: Chrysler, Denby Park, KaBOOM! | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
July 6, 2008
The CEO of Bon Secours will meet with Mayor Fraim on Monday to discuss the impasse between Norfolk and Bon Secours on their different positions for the number of beds at the new DePaul Medical Center. The City withdrew its support for a new 64 bed Depaul Medical Center with fewer services in June in favor of a new 134 bed DePaul with more services after receiving the recommended findings of a Northern Virginia consulting firm.
Bon Secours Health Systems website published:
Bon Secours Health System, headquartered in Marriottsville, Maryland, a $2.4 billion not-for-profit Catholic health system, owns, manages, or joint ventures 18 acute-care hospitals, one psychiatric hospital, five nursing care facilities, five assisted living facilities, and 15 home care and hospice programs. Bon Secours’ more than 16,000 caregivers help people in seven states, primarily on the East Coast.
At the end of an article on DePaul in the business section of Sunday’s Virginian-Pilot, the need for a meeting betwen the City and Bon Secours was discussed:
In the end, Holbrook, the advocate for a larger DePaul, wishes the key players would get together with the intent to resolve this disagreement.
“The city needs to sit down with DePaul and Sentara and figure out what the best mix is for Norfolk,” he said.
A meeting of the Friends of DePaul Hospital will be called on Monday afternoon to hear and discuss the outcome of the meeting between Mayor Fraim and Bon Secours. When the time and place of this meeting is announced Monday, www.wardscornernow.com will post the meeting information.
Comments Off on CEO of Bon Secours to meet with Mayor Fraim to discuss DePaul Hospital | City Of Norfolk, DePaul Hospital | Tagged: Bon Secours, City Of Norfolk, DePaul Hospital, DePaul Medical Center, wards corner | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
June 17, 2008
The following is a memo from Bon Secours in response to the City of Norfolk’s withdrawal of support of the new DePaul Hospital. We wrote about that withdrawal in our June 15, 2008 article.
BON SECOURS HAMPTON ROADS
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
Date: June 13, 2008
To: Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System
Board of Directors
Mary Immaculate Board of Directors
Bon Secours Maryview Foundation Board of Directors
Bon Secours DePaul Health Foundation
Board of Directors
BSDMC Medical Executive Committee
BSMMC Medical Executive Committee
MIH Medical Executive Committee
BSHR Leadership Team
BSHSI Executive Management Team
Read the rest of this entry »
Comments Off on Bon Secours responds to Norfolk’s change of heart | City Of Norfolk, DePaul Hospital | Tagged: Bon Secours, DePaul | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
June 13, 2008
The following information update was handed out at the June Ward’s Corner Taskforce meeting and was provided courtesy of the Department of Public Works and Assistant Director of Public Works, Alice Kelly.
Discussion and Action Items
1. Traffic Signal update (Little Creek & Granby) & (Little Creek and Farm Fresh Entrance)
Upgrading signal at Little Creek Road and Granby and Little Creek and Farm Fresh entrance and associated ADA work. New signals are fully operational. jrs 6/2/08 Street name signs to be installed within 10 days. Street lights at intersection to be installed by Dominion Virginia Power within 30-60 days.
2. Thole Street Traffic Calming Improvements
New landscape medians along the 300 & 600 Blocks of Thole St. Bids received May 20th. City to award contract upon VDOT approval. Construction to begin late July. Contract completion time is 45 days. hlr 6/4/08
3. Curb Ramps Wards Corner ADA Improvements
Phase III(B) work complete arb 6/4/08
CDBG funding allocated for curb ramps at roadway intersections throughout Titustown. Plans being finalized and public advertisement scheduled for June with construction to begin late summer. arb 6/4/08
Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | City Of Norfolk, Wards Corner Taskforce | Tagged: Alice Kelly, City Of Norfolk, Department of Public Works, wards corner | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
June 11, 2008
The Partnership had predicted the day would come when the proposed St. Paul’s Quadrant Plan would jump into first place over The Greater Wards Corner Comprehensive Plan which was approved by City Council on December 21, 2004. To date, there has been very little implementation of The Greater Wards Corner Comprehensive Plan. Pilot Online reports the unveiling of this huge new downtown project which will relocate as many as150 low income households in one fell swoop. To his credit Councilman Don Williams thinks Wards Corner should get funding before St’ Paul’s. Williams said,
We need to do things in a pecking order,
Mayor Fraim was quoted as saying,
We have several competing interests we’ll have to sort through.
But in a city as large as ours, we should be able to do several large projects.
We shall see if the Mayor puts as much effort in his support for Greater Wards Corner as he puts in Downtown.
8 Comments | City Of Norfolk, wards corner | Tagged: St Paul's Quadrant, wards corner | Permalink
Posted by Wards Corner
Wards Corner Now - Wards Corner, Norfolk, Virginia 
